Physical

[Amsdell]

I am a 23 year old woman, in alright physical shape as I believe.  I have my physical this wednesday and although I'm not too worried about the situps, the hand grip or the step test, the pushups are my cause for concern.  I tend to arch my back slightly when performing the movements in order to retain my balance and due to that my knees tend to inadvertently touch the floor if I go down too low.  If anyone can give me any advice I'd much appreciate it. 

Also, to all the ladies; how did you find your physical test to be?  Was it more difficult than you thought or was it easy?

 

[bonitabelle]

I'm 28 and felt that I was in alright shape, but I failed the push-ups the first time. I couldn't do them all.  The grip, sit ups and step test were all fairly easy.  I just kept practising the push-ups and when I went back to redo the test, I did fine.  You are going to have to almost touch the ground though, so I would keep praticing them, it does help. 

The best advice I can give you is to try your best and keep thinking positive, and if you do happen not to pass it, listen to the advice that they will give you and practice until the re-test. 

Sorry I can't be much help.  Good luck on Wednesday!

 

[Amsdell]

I guess I'll work mainly on my back muscles to strengthen them at the gym.  I'm nervous about failing the test because I've been told there's a possibility of me being able to do my training over the summer in the city and but that such an arrangement will take some work on my recruiter's part.  I don't intend to waste all that effort by failing but at the same time I'm not as sure of my success as I was prior to finding out what sort of pushups were required.

 

[ExistancE]

Were one to fail the physical is there a set date for a re-test or is it agreed upon? Also you don't mention chinups. I was under the impression those were part of the physical. If anyone could answer those questions it would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[FredDaHead]

Were one to fail the physical is there a set date for a re-test or is it agreed upon? Also you don't mention chinups. I was under the impression those were part of the physical. If anyone could answer those questions it would be appreciated. Thanks.

If one were to fail, they can take the test one week (seven days) after the first try. It's recommended you wait longer (so you have time to train) but if time is of the essence, the minimum is a week.

As for chinups, they're not part of the physical.

 

[ReadyAyeReady]

"Also you don't mention chinups. I was under the impression those were part of the physical."

From what I understand.  The Hand Grip Test is meant to be a measure of your ability to do chin ups.  But they do recommend practicing chiunups regularly.

 

[ryan fitzy]

I think the hand grip is just to test how strong you are, a guy needs if I'm correct 70 to pass and thats combined between both arms, I am a male and i am 5ft 6" 125lbs and i scored 143 on the grip test- so  its not vary hard, as for push ups,try using a little weight on your back while you do your push ups, you will not be able to do as many at a time but it really builds your muscles, I do 25 push ups 3 reps with 40 lbs on my back, then when i rest and try without weight i can do upwards of 60 at one time, might be one thing you could try, also try elevated push up, put your feet up on a chair and your hands on another chair, the fact thats theres nothing under you to touch and that you have to remain balanced builds your muscles, also don't work out the day before your test or the day of, hope this helps.

 

[ExistancE]

Thanks for the answers. This physical is sounding easier and easier... famous last words I bet.

 

[SeanPaul_031]

One thing Ive always wanted to know is, why do ppl bother taking their physical test if they know that they cant do the pushups portion of it? Do you think that somehow miraculously youll just be able to do 19 pushups when previously youve only been able to do 14? Do you think that the physical instructor is going to just let it pass that you cant complete the push-ups?

Theres nothing wrong with not being able to do the pushups, at one time I couldnt do 19 pushups either. But I made goddamn sure that when I went for my physical that I could do them.

Wouldnt it make more sense to just re-schedule your physical test at a later date when you are more prepared.
1)Youll save time because you wont have to redo your physical over again. And you wont be wasting the recruiters time either.
2)Youll save 20$ (or whatever the price is) because you wont have to redo your physical.
3)Id rather start my carreer in the military off on a good foot. Failing the physical because you werent prepared doesnt look very good.

(Amsdell this isnt directed at you, just to new recruits in general)

 

[LordOsborne]

you raise a good point, SP. i failed my physical the first time, because i assumed my way of doing pushups was the right one (i was quickly proven wrong) and the re-test cost me 30$.

make sure you can do it beforehand.. saves time and money

 

[ReadyAyeReady]

The push ups are tough to nail down partly because there are so many different accounts of what a "proper" push up is.  I've literally heard about 5 different stories regarding this.  The CF physical fitness guide indicates that you are supposed to have your hands under your shoulders, pointing forward, feet together blah blah blah.  But then I've spoken to several people who have done the physical and they have all given me different accounts of their physical test.  One guy didnn't have to have his hands directly under his shouders but was allowed to place them at any width apart just as long as they were pointing forward.  Another guy told me that he had to touch the instructors fist while still another guy told me that he had to go all the way down to the floor.  Some people had their feet together, other didn't.  So whats the deal...is it on the whim of the person who delivers the test (Being civilians they probably all have different ways of doing push ups).  Then you look at the PR videos and they show recruits at BMQ doing "regular push ups" as opposed to the ones they describe in the fitness guide.

I try and practice push-ups with my hands under my shoulder and then with my hands farther apart just to be on the safe side.  But you'd think that if they have indicated in the CF guide what a proper push up is then they should be making sure that its adhered to.  Why should one person have to do the much harder push ups (the hands under your shoulder) while some other person get to do the much easier ones?  There should be some more consistency.

 

[Basic Person]

Bad example here, but a week before the test, I could do ten (the proper way) so I crammed and did push-ups whenever I had time (was probably not very good since I didn't have much time to recover inbetween) but at the day of the test, with a little bit of will power, I was able to do twenty and passed. The grip test was very easy for me though... I don't know why cause I can only do one chinup so far x_x

 

[fleeingjam]

Do them everytime a commerical comes up on TV, drop and do 20 or something then next commerical try for 30 and see what you can max out till.

 

[Blindspot]

Thanks for the answers. This physical is sounding easier and easier... famous last words I bet.

A recruiter just told me that 70% of applicants fail the Physical. Take that for what it's worth.

 

[coors]

scince when do people have to pay for their physicals? I've never heard of that. The military always covered it when I did it.

 

[Dakota]

CF will pay for the first test. If you have to do a re-test, you have pay.

 

[scottyeH?]

A recruiter just told me that 70% of applicants fail the Physical. Take that for what it's worth.

If that's so, sounds like theres a LOT of unfit people applying. Geez 19pushups, 19sits ups... is not HARD. If you have problems with it take 1month of training and I'm guessing you will succeed or you should.

 

[kincanucks]

scince when do people have to pay for their physicals? I've never heard of that. The military always covered it when I did it.

scince every time the applicant fails it and has to do it again.

 

[coors]

I guess that's why I wouldn't have known! 8)

 

[Amsdell]

One thing Ive always wanted to know is, why do ppl bother taking their physical test if they know that they cant do the pushups portion of it?

I'll answer this one anyways. 

The only reason I booked my test so early is because I've been told I may have a shot for summer training (yeah, even _this_ close to the deadline).  But I work in a school so I'm sick whenever the kids are sick, which translates to me having very recently lost a month+ of training (not to mention a huge chunk of winter) due to a bad cold that just wouldn't go away, and even more recently another two weeks due to food poisoning (I thank my hubby for that one).  I haven't realized I lost so much of the ground I gained working out regularly.  I'm not sure who's time I want to waste less, my recruiters' who may  have gotten me a spot this summer or the doctor's.  But either way I'll end up wasting someone's time this turn around and I'm genuinely sorry about it. 

Will it look really badly if I postpone my test for an extra few weeks?  And is it too late for me to do so, if my test is this Wednesday?